Matzo Ball Soup

How to keep a moon journal on the month of Tishrei

I have recently read a great post by mommy coddle titled: 10 Ways To Get Outside--Even After School Starts. The 10th item on the list linked to a how-to keep a moon journal.  Since this Friday is the first of the month of Tishrei,  I thought it would be great to start a moon journal with my girls, weave it into our night routine, and make a simple connection between religion and nature.

You and I will need:

A note book (at list 30 pages)
A pencil
A large coin or a lid

How to:

• Go outside with your child observe the sky. try and be consistent ,more or less, with the time you make your observation.

• Find the moon

• Trace a coin at the corner of the page

• Fill in the shape of the moon as you see it, you may also leave the moon white and shade around it.

• Record the time and date, weather conditions maybe even its location in the sky. If the sky is cloudy and the moon is not visible make a note of that too.

• Try and make as many observations over a month as you can.

Variation:
If you draw the moon on the same corner of every page you may turn the journal into a flip book.

If your child wants to learn more:
Model the phases of the moon
The surface of the moon - crater blasting (last paragraph of the article)

Book list:
The Moon
The Moon Seems to Change (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)
Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me
Kitten's First Full Moon
Goodnight Moon

I hope we are all going to be looking at the moon together this month.

tali

Celebrating Shavuot with family and friends

This is how:
Dress up in white
Pack up a picnic basket with delicious dairy spread (including moms cheese cake)
Call up some close friends and family
Find a green spot
Pick up some flowers
Make flower crowns with your children (the old fashion way).
Enjoy a special day outside with family and friends.

^{The Seamstress flower crown}

How to make a flower crown: (3 different ways)

The old school way
You will need:
An ivy branch
Additional flowers
String/ wire/ pipe cleaners

How to:

1. Pick up a branch of ivy
2. Shape into a circle, large enough to fit on the person’s head, and tie with some string or wire. 
3. If you use a branch with flowers like jasmine, this would be it for you; otherwise you may add some flowers around the branch by tying them with string or wire .

The low-tech way (I dare you)
You will need:
25 flowers with about 5 inches of stem (dandelions or daisies are perfect for that)

How to:

1. Gather 25 flowers; make sure that the stems are about 4 to 5 inches long so they can be tied easily.
2. Make a slit in the stem about a 1/4-inch long through the middle of each flower stem. This should be 2 inches below the head of the flowers. Use your fingernail to do this or you can use a sharp knife. 
3. Slip the end of a flower's stem through the slit you have made and pull it until you get to the head of the flower. Repeat with the next flower. Keep going in this manner until you've made a chain of flowers long enough to make a crown. Make sure you measure before you finish it off.
4. Weave the ends of the chain to form a ring. Insert each end through slits in the stems to secure it.

The Seamstress way
You will need:
Approximately 25 flowers (this works best with flowers that have petals that are connected and that get separated easily from the stem. Don’t worry; every other flower is like that)
An embroidery thread
Thick rounded needle

How to:

1. Gather the flowers.
2. Separate the crown of the flower from the sepal/ stem.
3. String thread through the center of the flower. Continue with the next flower until the string of flowers is long enough for a crown.
4. Tie ends. 

For great memories
Happy Shavuot everyone

Tu Bishvat - an activity book

It seems like the ‘new years’ celebrations are never ending…first we had Rosh Hashanah. Before we knew it came 2009, the Chinese New Year is this weekend and next week is the Jewish new years for the trees or as we call it – Tu-Bishvat (the name is derived from the Hebrew date of the holiday the 15th of the month of Shevat).  I am much exited to share this activity book that I have designed. Please forward it to whom ever you think will enjoy it.
If you have any comments or feedback I would love to hear. 

TU BISHVAT ACTIVITY BOOK (pdf)

Thanks to Jill Sulam from Transformations Editing for editing this Tu Bishvat activity book!

tali

Our menorah that came from the sea

There is nothing like going to the beach on a beautiful sunny afternoon in the middle of the winter, even better when its low tide. This is defiantly the reason why we moved to California, You just can’t beat that. When we went last week there was a great display of stones piled up waiting for us to enjoy, the rest of the time we found ourselves looking for flat small stones for our menorah from the sea.